<p>I'm not sure if I will even apply yet, but I would appreciate any feedback. </p>
<p>-Native American male(URM =) from Oklahoma at a top 300 school. I dont know how. School never sends kids to top schools...one to Duke this year but that was a miracle. </p>
<p>-2100 SAT, 32 ACT</p>
<p>-3.7cum GPA(3.5frosh year), about 3.8 from then on. Rank is iffy:probably top 4-8% if not higher</p>
<p>-AP Scores: All 4's and 5's, but no AP Calc or AP Physics. Hardest was probably AP Chem </p>
<p>-Only 2 years of a foreign language(terrible counselor advice), and math through Pre-Calc(not an option) </p>
<p>-ECs: I have three passions
1. Tennis-I am a nationally ranked tennis player at a top 10 junior club in the US. This takes up a ton of time, and I play on varsity as well-I have been the only player from our team to make it to state..ha we are terrible, but state is actually a big feat here
2.Volunteering-I have volunteered at nursing homes, the art museum, and with cystic fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is something I can relate to from a personal experience(I dont have it..) so it may be an essay topic. I have tons of hours from this.
3. I created my own small business. I buy art when I travel and online, and I have my own website and EBAY page that I sell art and make a good profit. I have made several thousand dollars since sophomore year. It's not virtually unknown either-Advertisements are in the urban magazines and the newspaper.
I am also very involved with the school and student council stuff.. very involved. I'm one of the people who make the stuff happen!</p>
<p>I think you have a shot, but don't bank on being a URM to get you in. Don't take this the wrong way, but Cal has a ton of kids a lot smarter than you with a lot more accomplishments than you applying OOS. Now that does not mean you don't have a shot, but you are only 30 pts. higher than the overall avg. SAT, and only 8% of their freshmen were OOS this year. The top 25% starts at around 2170 or so, so most OOS kids need at least a 2220 or so to have a decent shot. Even then though, space is limited. Hopefully I didn't discourage you, but Cal doesn't even consider race in its admissions process anymore either, so being an URM doesn't do you too much good. Try and get your uw GPA up to at least a 3.85 or so too (avg. is a 3.93). It's always worth a shot, so good luck!</p>
<p>natew6338: I think you have a very good chance considering you are nationally ranked with tennis... get in touch with the coach at Cal. Good luck. And figure out your UC GPA, you may already be in the ballpark. The UC's doesn't place weight on your unweighted GPA, only the UC GPA is important. Good luck!</p>
<p>Good chance. It's difficult to say reach/match, because your GPA is abnormal (as in, lower than average for Berkeley), but you're distinguished and you're a URM. So I think it could go either way.</p>
<p>Like someone else mentioned, URM doesn't matter at all. Your SATs and GPA make me want to say reach, but the tennis thing might give you a boost.</p>
<p>yeah, tennis might help, but when you're being compared with someone who's discovered nuclear radiation in southern georgia (yes, it actually happened), i'm not sure that a tennis thing will suffice. also, URM DOES NOT MATTER! is your tennis rank high (you don't have to say what)? bc admissions officers know when someone is trying to build themselves up. Then again, if you're up there with the best, that could help a little. really try and get your SATs up into the 2200s AT LEAST. Just the avg. score won't do OOS.</p>
<p>Yeah I am definitely not top 10 in the nation or anything close, thats for sure. But I am ranked, and you do have to get a certain number of points to get a national ranking. Let me tell you, it is not an easy thing to do...It took a long time and it was discouraging. But I know the URM doesn't matter, and I am studying for my SAT's.</p>
<p>I think you will have a good shot then. I know about the whole tennis thing, I play too. I think you have a decent chance. The SATs and GPA are huge though, even if some people play them off. But you can tell they are by who gets admitted/denied. If you were in-state, you'd probably be a match for sure. Good luck though, you can do it!</p>